Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has named state Sen. Chris Cournoyer as her next lieutenant governor after Adam Gregg resigned the post earlier this year.
It marks the first time Iowa will have women in both top roles.
The pick comes as Reynolds prepares to deliver her priorities for the 2025 legislative session and as she gears up for an expected reelection campaign in 2026.
Cournoyer, a Republican from LeClaire, will serve out the remainder of Gregg’s term, which is set to expire at the end of 2026.
Reynolds made the announcement in her formal office in the Iowa Capitol Monday morning, and Cournoyer, who resigned her Senate seat the same day, immediately took the oath of office.
Reynolds praised her new second-in-command as a “doer” who, after failing to get answers from her local school board, first entered politics to run for the seat herself.
“That’s the kind of person that Chris is,” Reynolds said. “Her first instinct isn’t just to wonder why something isn’t working right or to complain. It’s actually to get in there and fix the problem herself. She takes responsibility, she gets her hands dirty, and she does the work. And the people of Iowa couldn’t ask for more in a lieutenant governor, and neither can I.”
Cournoyer, who was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018 and reelected to a second four-year term in 2022, called the experience “surreal.”
“This is a humbling responsibility for me, and Iowans can be confident that I will always approach it with the seriousness that it deserves,” she said.
Cournoyer was one of Nikki Haley’s most high-profile endorsers in Iowa’s 2024 Republican caucuses, writing that the former United Nations ambassador is “unafraid to stand up, correct the record and talk about the tough issues.”
Reynolds suggests new lieutenant governor will play a role in STEM policy, making government more efficient
A mom of four, Cournoyer previously served as president of her local school board, as an adviser on the governor’s STEM Advisory Council and as a reserve sheriff deputy. She has worked as a technology consultant, and she now runs her own business as an independent website designer and developer.
“Given this firsthand experience, Chris understands that one of the most effective ways to promote innovation in our economy is to promote it in our schools,” Reynolds said. “As a member of the governor’s STEM Advisory Council, she’s been a key ally in my administration’s efforts to prepare every student for the modern economy. She’s also been engaged in the issue at a local level, serving as the president of her school board, and even teaching robotics and coding to elementary and junior high students. This wide ranging expertise at the intersection of business, innovation and education is a major asset.”
The role of lieutenant governor is often ceremonial in Iowa, and the state Constitution says the lieutenant governor is in charge of whatever duties the governor assigns.
Cournoyer said Monday she looks forward to “advancing the governor’s agenda in any way I possibly can.”
Cournoyer was the vice chair of the Senate State Government Committee, where she helped lead Reynolds’ effort to reorganize and consolidate state government and Iowa’s hundreds of state boards and commissions.
She took the lead in the Senate on a law Reynolds signed this year eliminating dozens of state boards and commissions. And she served as a member of a new board created by that law: The State Government Efficiency Review Committee.
Gov. Kim Reynolds embraces state Sen. Chris Cournoyer after Cournoyer is sworn in as Iowa’s next lieutenant governor on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the Iowa State Capitol.
She also spoke in Reynolds’ office this year at the bill signing for a law that eliminated the requirement that Iowa boards and commissions have a balance of men and women serving on them. At the signing, she said there are more women serving in a range of careers than ever before.
“As Gov. Reynolds mentioned, her ongoing efforts to make government work more effectively, as well as to equip our students with 21st century skills, dovetails especially well with my background in K-12 education, computer science and artificial intelligence,” Cournoyer said.
Special election will be needed to fill Cournoyer’s Senate vacancy
Reynolds will need to call a special election to fill her vacancy in the Iowa Senate, where Republicans hold a 34-15 majority with Cournoyer’s resignation of her legislative seat. Reynolds’ spokesperson would not comment on when that election would be set.
“Chris has proven herself over the last six years as a smart, capable conservative,” Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said in a statement. “During her tenure in the Iowa Senate, she was a leading advocate for legislation to secure Second Amendment rights, protections for law enforcement, historic income tax relief, and every other common sense conservative priority the Senate has advanced. She will be missed, but I am happy for her and I look forward to watching her succeed in her new role as lieutenant governor.”
Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, also offered Cournoyer her congratulations.
“I wish her the best in this new role and hope she will look for opportunities to work cooperatively with her former colleagues in the Senate, regardless of party,” she said in a statement. “Iowans deserve a government that works for their betterment. Senate Democrats stand ready to work with the new lieutenant governor, should she be asked to serve a role in the legislative process.”
Position opened after Adam Gregg resigned lieutenant governor role
Gregg resigned Sept. 3 to become president and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association — a surprise decision that took effect immediately. He had served alongside Reynolds since she assumed the governorship in 2017 and named him as her No. 2. He was elected to the post as her running mate in 2018 and again in 2022.
Gregg’s decision to leave mid-term was taken as a sign by many in the political world that Reynolds would seek reelection herself, rather than stepping aside and giving him room to run for governor.
Gov. Kim Reynolds names state Sen. Chris Cournoyer as her next lieutenant governor on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the Iowa State Capitol.
Cournoyer is now expected to run alongside Reynolds if she does decide to seek a third full term as the state’s chief executive. In Iowa, the governor and lieutenant governor run on a single ticket rather than being elected separately.
Iowa has no term limits for state offices.
During his tenure, Gregg served as co-chair of the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative and as chair of the Governor’s FOCUS Committee on Criminal Justice Reform. He earned a base salary of just over $103,000 last year.
In November, Iowa voters passed a state constitutional amendment clarifying the state’s gubernatorial line of succession. Now, if the governor leaves office, the lieutenant governor will take that person’s place. The new governor can then appoint a new lieutenant governor to fill the office’s new vacancy.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: State Sen. Chris Cournoyer named Iowa lieutenant governor
